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There are all sorts of exciting and inspiring events running at Seven Stories this summer, including Wizards & Witches, Dragons, Shaun the Sheep, mindfulness and much more!
Seven Stories is dedicated to the art of children’s books and the creativity they inspire. The National Centre for Children’s Books is based in a seven-storey listed building in the popular Ouseburn area of Newcastle. There are three floors of interactive exhibitions all FREE to visit, which include Enid Blyton’s typewriter, The Gruffalo, Mog, Harry Potter and many more brilliant books and characters, as well as a bookshop and coffee shop.
Don’t miss the brand NEW free Betty Larom exhibition which is open from 9th August 2022, with comic art, nostalgic illustrations, and British fashion designer Molly Goddard’s AW22 Collection (as worn by Harry Styles).
Selected dates including summer holidays
10.30am & 1pm
£7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
Story stompers is for little ones who love exploring, making music, moving and just a little bit of grooving! Each session is inspired by a beautiful story just right to spark your little one’s imagination! Hold on to your hats for a child-led session full of fun and laughter!
Ages 2+
Daily Storytimes
Every day in the school holidays.
On the hour, every hour 10am – 4pm.
£2 per child (adults go free). Book here.
🔸 Join our storytelling team for a story and a giggle. These are very popular and sell out quickly so get your tickets now!
Under 10s
Summer Story Club: Wizards and Witches
📆 25th-27th July | 1st-3rd, 8th-10th, 15th-17th, 22nd-24th & 29th-31st Aug 2022
🕒 10am-3pm
👉 £75 without packed lunch (£90 with lunch). Book here.
🔹 Our Wildwood Gallery features fictional magical worlds from Narnia and Discworld to Hogwarts and His Dark Materials. This year’s Summer Story Club will explore these and many others whilst having fun and building literacy, art and creative skills.
Over the course of three days, children will explore the world of witchcraft and wizardry in some of their favourite stories and create some of their own. Working with our lively Story Catcher team, they’ll draw, write, craft, tell stories, play and get out and about to explore the magic of nature in Ouseburn Valley. They’ll have so much fun they won’t even notice the learning taking place too. Magic!
7-10 year olds
Storytimes with Ouseburn Farm
📆 Tuesdays through summer holidays. 26th July-30th Aug 2022
🕒 11-11:30am & 12-12:30am
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔸 Join us for a delightful story telling adventure with some special farmyard friends! Meet some of the newest members of the farmyard, the chicks and ducklings, and find out all about where they go to sleep, what they eat and what their favourite story is. These storytimes take place at Seven Stories (the ducklings and chicks will waddle over to join us).
All ages
Seven Stories at Newcastle City Council’s Best Summer Ever!
📆 25th, 26th, 28th, 29th July
📆 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 18th & 19th Aug 2022
🕒 10am-2pm
👉 Free. More info here.
🔸 We have holiday activities for children in receipt of free school meals (aged 4 to 16 years and attending Newcastle schools) four days a week for the first four weeks of the summer holidays, including an exploration of our galleries, an outdoor story trail and a free healthy lunch.
Age 4-16
Abracadabra! A Winnie the Witch Adventure Performance
📆 26th, 27th, 29th, 30th & 31st July
📆 2nd-3rd, 5th-7th, 9th-13th, 16th-17th, 19th-21st, 24th, 26th-28th & 30th Aug
📆 4th Sep
🕒 2:30-3:30pm
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔹 Winnie was very excited to become a witch; she had her brand new broom stick, book of spells and of course her sparkling new magic wand. But Winnie felt lonely and wanted to share her magic with someone special! Help Winnie find a magical friend in this fully interactive storytime adventure. Suitable for all the family this magic filled story time will have your little wizards and witches spellbound.
Suitable for all the family.
The Art of Herbology Workshop
📆 26th, 30th & 31st July
📆 2nd, 6th, 10th-12th, 22nd, 25th-26th, 29th & 31st August
🕒 10:30-11:30am or 1-2pm
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔸 Get stuck in to some craft activities with our team as we create our own magic using the power of plants and the natural world. Explore how nature has given us the tools to create magical art for over 6000 years! Find out how to paint with an onion, how a stone from Afghanistan can colour the sky and how an avocado can make you blush. In this magical art inspired workshop you’ll learn the secrets of nature as well as the power of plants!
Age 7+
Cartoony critters and hilarious humans!
📆 27th July & 18th August
🕒 10.30am and 12.30pm
👉 £9.50. Book here.
🔹 Come along and learn to draw like a professional illustrator with the amazing Liz Million, local illustrator and author. Liz will share all of her top tips and design secrets with you as you laugh, learn and draw along together in this fully interactive drawing session. You won’t be able to believe your own drawing skills at the end of this hilarious session!
Suitable for everyone
The Author and the Stick People
📆 3rd, 11th, 26th & 27th August 2022
🕒 11am, 1pm and 10:30am
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔸 Are you great at drawing stick people? Award-winning picture book author Richard O’Neill can’t draw for toffee, that’s why he works with so many fabulous illustrators. But how do the illustrators know what to draw? Richard draws stick people, some people like the stick people, Richard likes the stick people, he believes we need more stick people. Come and join his for the big Stick People Draw – he’ll provide the stories, you provide the stick people.
All ages
Read Ick Ulous Rhymes
📆 3rd & 11th August
🕒 2:30pm
👉 £7.50. Book here.
🔹 Love words? Love rhyming them? Well now is the time to join storyteller and children’s author Richard O’Neill for some rhyming fun. Learn how to choose the right words, to shape them, to bend them, to fix them and mend them – to befriend them. Fun for all ages! Richard will take you through the stages, so by the end of the workshop you won’t want to stop.
Suitable for all ages
Jayne’s Wonder Club
(A neurodiverse storytime workshop)
📆 3rd Aug & 24th Aug 2022
🕒 11am-12:30pm
👉 £7.50 per child. Book here.
🔸 Wonder Club is a friendly and diverse creative space for everyone. Jayne is a neurodiverse artist and storyteller from Sunderland who specialises in SEND and neurodiverse workshops and we’re thrilled she’s coming to Seven Stories this summer. In this interactive and fun workshop Jayne will introduce her picture book ‘Moo.’ and encourage discussion about navigating through life with a different way of thinking, then you’ll work together to create your very own character for a story.
7+, parental supervision required
The See-Saw Tree Storytime
📆 4th Aug 2022
🕒 11am
👉 £9.50 each. Book here.
🔹 An ancient oak tree is about to be felled. Can the creatures who live on it save it from destruction? Join award-winning writer David Wood to explore his powerful and poignant new book The See-Saw Tree. Listen to David read excerpts from the dramatic story and watch a short video featuring Joanna Padfield demonstrating how she created the exquisite linocut illustrations.
Ages 8+. Children aged 8 and over can attend without an adult.
Fantastic Beasts and How to Draw Them: Dragons
📆 4th, 7th, 17th & 19th Aug 2022
🕒 10.30am
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔸 Join us here at Seven Stories for a magical workshop inspired by ancient mythical scaled creatures! Could the legends be true? Do the scaled beasts really breath fire? Join us as we explore other cultures and folktales to discover the truth about dragons! Using a range of materials, you’ll create your very own dragon inspired masterpiece!
Suitable for the whole family ages 3+
Betty Larom Exhibition
📆 9th August – 22nd January
👉 Free entry. More info here.
🔹 Opening to the public on 9th August, this new exhibition at Seven Stories celebrates the work of Betty Larom and her husband Neville Main – famous for their comic art, nostalgic illustrations and, as of 2022, featuring in British fashion designer Molly Goddard’s AW22 Collection (as worn by Harry Styles in the ‘Boyfriends’ music video in June 2022). The exhibition features original and facsimile items from both Betty Larom and Neville Main’s archive which is in the Seven Stories Collection, a commentary from Molly Goddard, as well as interactive elements for children.
All ages
T-Shirt Designing Sessions
📆 9th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 23rd, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 30th &
31st Aug 2022
🕒 1pm and 11am
👉 £7.50. Book here.
🔸 To celebrate our new Betty Larom exhibition opening in August, and Betty’s illustrations being used in Molly Goddard’s Autumn/Winter clothing collection (can you spot them?), we’re inviting you to design your own t-shirts featuring characters from your favourite children’s books. We’ll provide one white t-shirt per person and the materials you need to get crafty (pens, sequins, fabric glue etc)!
Age 3+
Grandma, Grandad, what did you do before the internet?
📆 11th August
🕒 1pm
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔹 An interactive, fun intergenerational time travelling storytelling session for all the family. Listen to a range of fabulous Northern Tales from master storyteller Richard O’Neill, and maybe share one of your own. Magic, adventure, witches, monsters and potato picking with King Spud, Chopper bikes, phone boxes and 4 for a penny sweets. What can you remember from before the internet?
Suitable for the whole family
Two Little Mice Storytime
📆 Friday 12th August
🕒 1pm
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔹 Meet Monique Scott, the Northumberland author whose dreams came true! Inspired by her pet mice, she wrote and illustrated her story of two hard-working little mice who build their own dream home. Join us at Seven Stories for a reading of the book, and her new book Kiwi’s Pebble, as well as a craft session for children to make their very own paper pet mice. There will be plenty of opportunity for children to ask Monique about how she became an author, and how they can too – or families can simply join in the storytime fun!
Age 5+ (children over 8 can attend without an adult)
Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit Storyboarding Workshop
📆 14th August
🕒 11am, 12:30am, 14:00pm
👉 £15 per child. Book here.
🔸 It’s a fantastic chance to learn some new skills and tips with the experts Aardman Studios and can be used for fun and hobbies, or maybe even a potential future career! You’ll learn the basics of planning and storyboarding a story, get tips on drawing their iconic characters, create your own storyboard and see how to turn your drawings into an animatic. Recommended for those with a keen interest in drawing and illustration.
Suitable for ages 8+. Children can attend without an adult.
Interactive Magic Storytime
📆 17th August
🕒 1pm
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔹 Kylie Dixon is a children’s author and illustrator from the North East of England. Her book series The Magical World of Mushroom Marvellous about Inkcap a quick witted mushroom who lives in her dads allotment is filled with magic, wonder and adventure. Kylie has made it her mission to speak to 10,000 children in schools across the North East. Last year she helped thousands of children with their confidence and self-belief. This year it is time to show them how to find their own magical powers in her interactive magical workshop which inspires and motivates through reading, character creation and art!
Ages 6-10 years old. Children over 8 can attend without an adult.
‘My Magical Mindful Mind’ – Kids Mindfulness Workshop
📆 3rd September
🕒 11am
👉 £7.50 per child (inc one adult, 2nd adult £7.50). Siblings half price. Book here.
🔸 Author Holly Taylor is bringing her workshop ‘My Magical Mindful Mind’ to Seven Stories just before school starts again for many young people. It’s the perfect interactive mindful workshop for any child who is transitioning to nursery, school or a new class in September. The workshop will include an interactive telling of her storybook, alongside a mindfulness based session with yoga, singing bowls and a mindful craft. A chance for your children to find calm and to feel empowered.
Ages 3-6
